Love, It's What's for Lunch

I can still remember the mixed emotions I felt at school when I discovered a love note from my Mama, tucked in my lunch box somewhere between the sandwich and the thermos. The notes were short and sweet, something along the lines of "I love you" and were often decorated with hearts, flowers or stick figures. I loved getting them; I felt loved, but it also made me sad...I missed my Mama! And it sent pangs of remorse when it came time to throw away my trash at the end of lunch. I didn't want to throw away the note, because, in my mind, I imagined her writing the note and being heartbroken when she found out I threw it away.

All this was in the back of my mind when I scribbled a quick love note and put it in Abby's lunch box yesterday morning.

At school that afternoon Abby ran to me and started crying. "Mommy, I missed you so much," she said. "Thank you for the note. It made me love you."

I apologized for upsetting her with my note, but she assured me it was sweet; it just made her miss me all afternoon.

On our walk to the car, she told me that she threw the napkin away, but then she went back to the garbage can and told the janitor that she wanted it back. She said, "I told him, 'Could I get that, please? I want to recycle it.'"

I just laughed and told her that it is OK to throw away the napkins.

Last night as I cleaned out her backpack, I wondered about the condition of the napkin that she pulled out of the trash to "recycle." This is what I found:

 

My little tenderhearted baby. She's just like her Mama.